The cold gray sky was just starting to light up as the sun began to peek out from over the surrounding snow-covered trees.
Inside of the blacksmith shop Akira received his armor and shield that had been worked on by Delgar and the two other Dwarves.
As he gave it a quick inspection he saw that there were three different types of runes engraved on each piece of armor as well as the shield each with a different engraving style.
One set of runes were drawn with thin cursive lines. The second was in big blocky lines, and the last set of runes looked like a bunch of zig zags.
This armor would be now replacing his old armor. Some of the armor being replaced had been worn since he first started his journey to find out who he was.
“It should be a major boost to your defensive abilities,” said Delgar as he watched Akira look over the armor.
Akira only nodded in acknowledgment before starting to equip his new armor.
Ding!
Armor set bonus added for wearing a full set of Midnight heavy armor!
+2 defense for each piece of heavy armor equipped.
His new helmet had a faceplate to cover his face, with a slit to look out and a few smaller holes so his breath could escape and not create ice inside.
Akira could really feel the weight of the armor which was far heavier than chainmail or scale mail. He rotated his arms around to see how well he could move and was happy that his arms could move normally, the same for his legs.
He equipped his new large tower shield which added even more weight. For someone without Akira's strength, they would have to be transformed in order to use the shield. To make up for its heaviness it could weather 1000's of brutal attacks and covered a large portion of his body.
“Did you finish the 4 sets of studded leather armor I paid for?” asked Akira.
“I had one of the apprentices do it. Don't worry, we made sure they didn't mess up,” said Delgar as he pointed to a pile of studded leather armor.
Akira picked up one set of armor out of the four there, “Can you have someone deliver the three sets to the castle? They are for my sister, Mileena, and Maya.”
“No, I have never had canned liver. Is that some sort of delicacy?” asked Stone deaf.
“I'll make sure that it is sent to them later this morning when the apprentices have free time. We still have a lot of work to do making the armor for the rest of the army,” said Three toes.
***
On his way to the barracks, Akira bumped into Klyn and the other shaman that were with him as they headed to the barracks to join the morning training.
“Akira is that you?” asked Klyn as he looked at the tall dark armored person with a flowing cape surrounded by several bodyguards.
“Ah, just the person I was looking for! I had something made for you to replace that raggedy leather armor you have been using,” said Akira as he tossed the new studded leather armor to Klyn.
“I'm fresh out of money...” said Klyn looking at the new armor.
“No need to pay me, how can I let one of my best friends and the future head shaman go around wearing rags,” said Akira.
“You're wearing new armor as well. What about your old armor and shield?”
“It's a lot heavier than all the armor I wore before so it's going to take some time to get used to it. That's why I thought I might as well wear it to today's training. I'll be keeping the scale mail and shell shield just in case I ever need it for something in the future since it is far lighter and can be used in different situations. The other armor has already been recycled and used to create tools and other useful things,” said Akira.
“Is that so,” said Klyn as he hurriedly removed his old leather armor and equipped his new studded leather armor while they walked to the barracks.
The werewolf warriors were already waiting outside the barracks when Akira arrived. The warriors who had received a full set of heavy armor and a tower shield the day before were all standing in the first two rows.
Akira stepped forward and used the hilt of his sword to hit his shield calling for their attention.
“Let's begin the day's training so we can get to training in formations and tactics!” said Akira as he led the warriors towards the outer edge of the village's snow wall where the goblins and Orcs were waiting.
The normal laps around the village were far harder for Akira as he was now carrying nearly triple the weight compared to his old armor and shield. He persevered and kept a steady pace at the front of the pack.
The warriors who wore the new chest pieces and tower shields had a harder time than the day before but they were strong enough to not let it affect them much.
After completing the warm-up exercises Akira called everyone to attention.
“Heavy shock troops step forward! When I call your name and the unit, you will organize yourself accordingly with the 1st unit on the right to 5th on the left,” said Akira.
When Akira had sorted the warriors into 5 units of ten he spoke again.
“You will now be known as the 1st - 5th heavy infantry part of the 1st omega pack.”
Akira turned to the other warriors, “Everyone else so far has not specialized in anything yet so I will add you all to temporary units until you show or decide what part of the army you would like to be in,” said Akira.
“If I find that you have what it takes you will receive the position of an officer for one of the twenty units.”
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“We'll not be deviating much from what everyone should already know, but with new enemies, weapons, and new lands, our way of fighting must adapt if we are to survive. We'll be using the familiar howls, whistles, and war horns for battle so there is no need to learn a whole new communication system. For today we will be mainly focusing on shield formations. I have high expectations for everyone, especially everyone in the 1st-5th heavy infantry.”
“Let's start with something simple. 1st heavy infantry to the front! Hold your shields up so that they cover your body and overlap with the person next to you. 2nd - 5th heavy infantry line up behind them and do the same.”
“Everyone else, follow their example and form up behind them!”
Akira watched as everyone moved to get into place.
“This will be the standard marching formation that the army will use to move from one place to another! Learn it well so that you never forget it. I will accept no slacking!” shouted Akira as he and Klyn walked up and down the line of warriors correcting those who were not properly positioned.
When Akira was satisfied that everyone was in position he returned to the head of the formation along with his guards.
“Don't let your shields fall! Do not break the shield wall! If you do, you will not only be exposing yourself to enemy attacks but also those next to you and anyone behind you. Forward march!” shouted Akira his sword pointed towards the opposite end of the training field.
Akira switched between shouted commands, howls, a war horn, and the silent dog whistle to command the warriors. They spent most of the morning marching in formation until Akira received a system message.
Ding!
Warriors under your command have received boosted experience as well as an accelerated learning ability when taught by you.
The warriors have gained the basic knowledge of the 'Shield Marching' formation.
Several warriors have leveled up due to hard work and their new understandings from the training.
Keep training and more warriors will be able to level up and have a better understanding of the new tactics.
Command skill has leveled up!
“Halt! Ten-minute break to re-hydrate!” shouted Akira as he flipped his visor up and started to drink some of the treasured lukewarm wine from his bone flask.
“This training, is it really necessary?” asked Varbu as he sat next to Akira. He was following Akira's example and was training his own warriors in the same way. Prince Gobbers and Princesses Gobalina were also doing something similar.
“If we can't do something simple like this right now, then how are we going to be able to put up a fight against the demigods? I am basing everything on what I experienced during the Beorin swamp war. I want to fix the problems I saw during the battle of the Beorin swamp fort.
We werewolves are fierce warriors but any form of a shield wall was nearly non-existent; we just charged the enemy with our shields up. It was more of a berserker mentality than any type of formation. This will not work with demigods who have special skills that can kill dozens of people and even hundreds when they get stronger.”
“I agree with Akira's view of things. It is always better to be cautious and start from the basics and let us shamans buff and support,” said Klyn nodding his head while he rubbed his chin as if deep in thought.
“Still you shouldn't focus too much on defense, otherwise how are we going to kill them?” asked Varbu.
“No need to worry, we will get to that later. Klyn, how are you and the people under your command doing?” asked Akira.
“Everyone is doing fine now that they have gotten used to the exercises. There is no need to worry about us since we can keep up with you and we won't hold you back,” said Klyn.
When the short break was over Akira again took his position in front of the 'Shield Marching' formation.
“On my command, the 1st - 5th heavy infantry units will switch from marching formation into a shield-wall with the 1st unit on the right and the 5th unit on the left.
You are not allowed to lower your shield or show any opening while transitioning into a shield wall.
All other units behind the heavy infantry will split up and follow behind one of the 5 heavy infantry units.
Even-numbered units will move to the right while the odd-numbered units will move to the left. There should be only three units behind each of the five heavy infantry units. Understood?”
“Yes, sire!”
“Shield wall to the front!” shouted Akira.
Like a piece of paper unfolding the 5 heavy infantry units spread out into a long shield wall, while the 15 units behind them moved to the left and right based on their unit number.
Akira walked in front of each warrior and inspected everyone.
“That was too sloppy! Marching formation!” shouted Akira.
He waited for the warriors to return back into the twenty rows of ten warriors.
“Shield wall to the front!” shouted Akira.
“Marching formation!...Shield wall to the front!” Akira repeated the orders several tens of times until he was stratified they were able to not mess up while standing still.
“Marching formation! Forward march!” and so Akira once again led the Warriors in a march around the training field switching between the Shield marching formation and the shield wall formation.
Their marching only stopped when noon arrived and Akira gave everyone time to eat and re-hydrate.
Mileena, Azura, and Maya had all been waiting for the training to pause for lunch so they could hand over the warm food that they had cooked for Akira. It was something they had started to do every day now.
Each of them was now wearing the new studded leather armor that Akira had ordered for them.
As Azura was going to hand Akira the wrapped lunch box, Mileena pulled Akira's head down and pushed his helmet visor up before giving him a kiss.
Which made Azura give a loud huff of indignation.
“Thanks for the new armor. It fits well enough and is better than the armor I used to wear,” said Mileena.
“Thank you big brother,” said Azura as she handed over the boxed food.
“Thank you,” mumbled Maya as she straightened her glasses on her nose, her ears twitching in irritation at the cold.
“We have other things to do so we won't take up any more of your time. Keep working hard!” said Mileena as she gave Akira another peck on the cheek and ran off with the other two girls.
Akira made sure to share the large box of food with Varbu, Klyn. Both goblin Gobbers and Gobalina declined the food and ate their own food.
After the lunch break, Akira continued to train the fledgling army in new shield tactics which included the arrow formation for attacking and breaking through an enemy's line of defense.
The turtle formation where the heavy infantry protected the whole army in a circle formation while the warriors inside used their shields overlapping above their heads to protect themselves.
They also worked on single unit square formations where each unit of ten soldiers would form a square with 3 warriors on each side while the unit commander was positioned in the center giving orders and helping fight with any of the four sides that needed it.
Akira was thorough in teaching the new tactics and only moved onto the next one when he received a message that the soldiers had a basic understanding of the new formation.
“Although today was a bit sloppy and I know that learning all this might be a lot to remember in one day, I still feel you all did a good job. You have shown me that you are indeed worthy of becoming soldiers of Kodria. You don't have to worry about forgetting anything you learned today as we will be doing this every day until you know how to do it by heart!” said Akira.
“When everyone receives their new armor you will be required to wear it at all times during training so that you can get used to the new weight.
When you all resemble a well trained and fully functioning army with proper formations and not a wanton charge of scattered warriors we'll have some fun fighting skirmishes with blunted weapons. So I suggest that you put in your all to learn the shield formations,” said Akira.
“Yes sir!”
“Dismissed!”